Supporting prop or leg for book or binder



Dec. 21, 1965 VERNON 3,224,792

SUPPORTING PROP 0R LEG FOR BOOK OR BINDER Original Filed June 20, 1962 Fl 6.1. Fl 6.2. m 1 70x 72.. 7777 7, W if 1 A I 11 /7 2 A3 United States Patent 3,224,792 SUPPORTING PROP OR LEG FOR BOOK 0R BINDER Murray Vernon, New York, N.Y., assignor to S. E. & M.

gerrlion, Inc, New York, N.Y., a corporation of New or r Continuation of application Ser. No. 206,119, June 20,

1962. This application .luly 23, 1964, Ser. No. 385,833

1 Claim. ((31. 281-33) This invention relates to books, or to binders for books, and has for its object to provide means by which a book or binder can be supported in an upright and angular position to facilitate the easy reading of the book or the copying of its contents, and this is a continuation of my application Serial No. 206,119, filed June 20, 1962, now abandoned.

A reader or student engaged in study or reading of a book or copying of the contents thereof, often finds it most convenient to support or prop up the book on a desk or table and at an angle. For this purpose, an easel, rack or other supporting means must be provided for the book and which, in many cases, is not conveniently or immediately available.

It is therefore one of the objects of the present invention to provide means, forming a part of the book or binder, which will act as a supporting leg or prop for the book or binder, enabling the same to be set up and supported at an angle on the surface of a desk, table or other surface to thereby enable the book to be easily consulted for reading or copying.

It is another object of the invention to provide a leg or supporting prop hingedly connected to the back of a book or binder having an arcuate cross section, which prop or leg conforms in cross sectional shape to the arcuate back, the hinge being such as to permit limited outward movement of the leg or prop to perform the full function of the conventional, unattractive, foldable brace heretofore generally used for bookholders or easels.

More particularly, the invention contemplates the provision of a book or binder having covers and a back connecting the covers, and with a leg or prop extending coextensively with the arcuate back and conforming in shape thereto and overlying the back, said leg or prop being attached to the back adjacent to one of its ends, the leg or prop being scored on its inner and outer surfaces to provide a hinging connection to the back, the leg or prop being capable through the nature of its hinged connection to the back, of a limited pivotal movement to cause it to extend out angularly from the back of the book to support the book. The leg or prop is transversely curved for its full length so that its lower end, which when the leg is extended, contacts with the surface of a desk or table, presents a curved surface against its support, which curved surface lends more stability to the supported book than would be obtained if the lower end of the prop was straight rather than curved.

The invention further contemplates the provision of detachable fastening means by which the free end portion of the leg or prop can be connected .to the back so that when the leg or prop is not in book-supporting position, it can be positioned contiguously to the back and attached thereto and will form a substantially unnoticeable part of the book or binder.

With these and other objects to be hereinafter set forth in view, I have devised the arrangement of parts to be described and more particularly pointed out in the claim appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed:

FIG. 1 is a face view of a book or hinder constructed Patented Dec. 21, 1965 ice according to the invention, with the leg or prop shown in a slightly extended position;

FIG. 2 is a rear view of the book or binder;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a book or binder constructed according to the invention, showing the leg or prop in its extended position and supporting the book;

FIG. 4 is a view looking at the inner side of the leg or prop;

FIG. 5 is a sectional View on the line 55 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 66 of FIG. 2, but with the covers of the book or binder omitted.

Referring to the drawing, the book or binder therein shown is generally of conventional form, and includes the covers 1 and 2., connected in the known manner by a rounded and arcuately-curved back 3, which is preferably, as in the case of ring binders for example, of stiff and solid construction, being usually made of metal and cloth covered. In the type of book or hinder illustrated, there is provided the ring mounting 4 secured to the back 3 by rivets, one of which is shown at 21 in FIG. 3, and carrying the ring segments 5, 6. The pages are carried by the ring segments, said pages being shown at 20. The book or binder and its elements are as thus far described, of known construction.

The prop or leg to which the present invention relates, is generally indicated at 7 and it preferably, although not necessarily, is composed of metal, plastic or any other stiff and strong material. It can be provided with a suitable covering material ll, extending over its outer surface and over portions of its inner face, as shown in FIG. 4, which material may, if desired, conform to the covering material for the book or hinder, or it may be colored with a contrasting color. Near its upper end 10, the arcuate leg or prop thus constructed, is provided with a flexible hinge joint, permitting the lower or longer free portion of the leg or prop to be pivotally moved outwardly a limited distance only, due to the arcuate shape of the hinge as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 thereby to enable the leg or prop to angularly support the book or hinder substantially as shown in FIG. 3 without risk of collapsing. The hinge 11 is produced by scoring both the inner and outer surfaces of the material of the leg at the joint 11. The stiffness of the material of which the leg or prop is made maintains the leg or prop constantly in its concave-convex shape so that it does not flatten out whether open or closed. As will be seen in FIG. 3, the lower end of the leg is thus curved, and this end when rested against the top of the desk or table, adds greater stability to the leg than would be secured by a fiat leg.

Near its upper end, and above the hinge joint 11, the leg or prop 7 is securely attached to the back 3 of the book by means of a rivet 12 or other equivalent fastening means.

If the back of the book or binder to which the leg or prop is arcuately curved as shown in the drawing, the leg or prop will be similarly curved so as to closely or contiguously fit against the back of the book when the leg or prop is in its position of non-use, as in FIG. 2. In this position, the leg or prop is relatively unnoticeable and it does not materially encumber the book nor interfere with its conventional use, and appears as a part of the book or binder. The leg or prop 7 is maintained in the abovementioned position of non-use by detachable fastening means consisting of a substantially U-shaped spring clip or catch 13, secured by a rivet or other equivalent fastening element 14, to the inner face of the leg or prop, near its lower or free end, and an aperture is provided at 15 in the back 3 of the book or hinder near the lower end of the same and in a position to receive the clip a or catch with a snap action. It will be obvious that when the clip or catch is engaged with the aperture 15 and the springy arms of the clip or catch engage against the sides of the aperture, as shown in FIG. 6, the leg or prop Will be securely but detachably held contiguously against the back of the book or hinder.

When it is desired to prop up the book on a desk or table for conveniently consulting the book or for copying material from its pages, the clip or catch 13 is disengaged from the aperture 15 by a manual pull exerted on the lower end of the leg and the leg is then swung outwardly on its hinge joint 11 to the limit of swing permitted by the hinge and which will dispose it in an angular relationship to the book and support the book at the required angle. It can be restored to its position of non-use whenever required by merely swinging it back against the rear of the book and causing the engagement of the clip or catch 13 with the aperture 15.

Thus, the function of the leg or prop is effectively concealed when it lies flatly against the arcuate back of the book and it does not add substantially to the bulk thereof. This construction, while capable of performing the full function of a conventional foldable brace, permits the book to be carried or stored like any other conventional book.

A significant feature of the present device resides in the provision of a hinged or foldable leg which, by its shape and its particular hinge connection to the back of the book, acts as a stop to limit the outward angular swing of the leg at a predetermined book-supporting position, whereby the use of bracing means for the leg, or other means for limiting the outward swing of the leg, is eliminated. The use of a foldable brace member, often employed in easel construction and which is eliminated in this device, would, if used create thickness or bulk at the back of the book and it would also require special recessing in the leg or in the back of the book to accommodate the folded brace when the brace is not in an extended position.

While I have herein described the leg or prop as being fitted on a specific type of book or binder, it will be apparent that it may be used on many other types.

Having thus described a single embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claim.

What I claim is:

A book or the like comprising spaced covers hingedly connected at opposite sides of a relatively stiff back having an arcuate outwardly convex cross section, a prop substantially conforming in length and width to said back and having an arcuate concavo-convex cross section, means connecting juxtaposed upper end portions of said back and prop together, an arcuate transverse hinge line scored on the inner and outer surfaces of the prop sub stantially immediately below said last mentioned means permitting outward movement of the portion of the prop therebelow to be disposed and maintained in spaced angular relation from the adjacent similar portion of said back with which said lower portion conforms, the concavity of the prop on opposite sides of the hinge line limiting the outward movement of the lower end thereof, the sole connection between the prop and the back, while the prop is in its extended position, being at and above the hinge, the prop when extended to supporting position presenting a lower arcuately-curved lower end to rest on a supporting surface, the back including a transverse aperture intermediately thereof, said prop including a clip thereon having spring fingers projecting laterally from the inner surface thereof and removably receivable in said transverse aperture.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,018,535 1/1962 Grifiin 24213 FOREIGN PATENTS 227,362 8/1943 Switzerland.

EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner.

JEROME SCHNALL, Examiner. 

